Of Spilled Lunches, Gifts and Secrets
by Aviala Ordali
Summary: Set directly after Twilight but before the summer and New Moon. Bella finds some bizarre behavior in the cafeteria one day at lunch. T for briefly heated moments, extreme absurdity and Bella's general poor lack in judgement.
1. El Sueno

Disclaimer: I don't own the concept of Twilight, nor do I profit in writing this story.

Note: This fanfiction picks up after the major action of the first book finishes (killing James, warding off all evil, Bella and Edward establishing their everlasting love for each other at the prom, etc.) so obviously there may be some spoilers. However, it does take place before the school year ends and Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper graduate and therefore before New Moon. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter One: El Sueño**

Bella Swan breathed a heavy sigh of relief as she entered the cafeteria and saw the entire Cullen family present at their lunch table. She quickly got her lunch and made a beeline for the infamous group of pale-skinned models that she constantly had to compare herself to. Strangely enough, the seating arrangement at the table wasn't as per daily schedule decreed.

Normally, a place was saved for Bella between Alice and Edward while Jasper sat next to Alice, followed by Emmett and his mate. Finally, Edward sandwiched the human between he and his pixie-like sister. They had all joked for a couple weeks that it was their way of constantly protecting "their little pet" from the evil they constantly came in contact with but it only infuriated Bella.

However, as she made her way in from Spanish, late as usual, the vampires had arranged themselves in a different order that seemed a bit off. Alice was stroking Emmett's hair lightly, her delicate body resting gingerly on his lap, feet on the edge of Edward's chair next to Emmett…

It wasn't until this moment that Bella had noticed the most shocking change in scenery. Edward sat in between his brothers, golden eyes covered by Bella's favorite sunglasses, fiddling with the label on his water bottle. Milky white arms snaked down the front of his thin cotton shirt, over his muscular chest and then up to the back of his neck, brushing the short hairs there with long, manicured nails. Rosalie was massaging his neck, whispering and melodically humming along slightly above the dull roar of the cafeteria.

Edward's husky laugh interrupted Bella's thoughts as he chuckled at whatever the enchantress was murmuring in his ear, lifting his rose lips to meet her stained scarlet ones and drawing a long kiss from them. Edward flashed a dazzling smile as every girl in the cafeteria stared in awe at the gorgeous movie stars that seemed to be putting on a show for them. The scenarios playing out even in the hair-net adorned head of the cafeteria lady were even too hilarious for Edward to keep to himself.

Jasper seemed unfazed by the bizarre parallel universe unfolding before Bella's eyes as Rosalie slid into her brother's lap and moved her lips to his neck, playing at the v-neck collar of his t-shirt. His knee however, was pressed up against Edward's and his hand trembled lightly as he sketched in his notebook. A split second before Bella could react to what was before her; Jasper looked up and into her eyes, muttering something to the rest of the table.

With a crash, Bella dropped her red plastic tray, the mysterious "veggie burger" and discolored corn flying, milk carton splashing all over her favorite suede boots. A hush fell over the cafeteria as all the students in Forks turned to look at the girl who was already the talk of the town. Embarrassed beyond belief, she knelt down only to have her poor, bruised apple thrust into her face by an overly anxious helper. Lifting her reddened face, Bella caught the eyes of Jasper, kneeling in the puddle of milk with her, trying to salvage her lunch.

"Bella, are you alright?" he asked cautiously, bringing a wave of calm into the room to try and soothe Bella's tense worry and anxiety setting her heart aflutter.

"Y-yes, I just…I was a little surprised, that's all," she stuttered in an embarrassed whisper, trying to mop up the mess with the two tissues she had in her backpack.

"I know, Ed and Rose can get to be a bit much for everyone…but you know that," he responded, gesturing back at the corner table with Bella's now soiled fork. He then lowered his tone and lifted his eyes to her, his golden eyes darting in their sockets, darkening, "And of course you know _why_ it bothers me so much…I can't stand to see him with _her_."

Bella's brows knitted together in confusion as she listened to Jasper's confession. She had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. Was Jasper upset because Alice was with Emmett? It looked pretty innocent from here…No, wait, we were talking about Edward and Rosalie. Why would Jasper care about that? Bella shifted her eyes from the Hale in front of her once more to the bizarre scene on the opposite end of the large room.

Edward had now removed the sunglasses and was looking towards Bella as Rosalie was standing and chatting in an animated tone on her phone, no doubt to Esme or Carlisle, absently tracing designs on Edward's chest. Alice had fixed her eyes on the milky puddle, cocking her head to the side, thinking deeply and watching Bella's every move. Emmett watched his brother and the human for a few moments, only to place a kiss in the crease of Alice's neck and jaw bone, sliding her off his lap and rising from his seat.

Wait, rewind, back to Edward; his eyes were not on Bella, as she had previously thought, but bearing intently into his brother's as Jasper dumped the remains of Bella's lunch into the bin next to them. This only caused further confusion as anger rose up in the air and Edward turned towards Rosalie who had wandered but a couple feet, yanking her back into his lap and crushing his lips into hers. Edward's eyes were dark and stormy, his arm holding a painfully tight grip on Rosalie. He threw a quick, sideways look at his brother's back across the room before pulling his eyes shut and Jasper once again started to feebly try to mop up the milk, salty tears dripping from his cheeks into the mess. Before Bella could respond to the silent argument, her thoughts were once again interrupted by a low, male voice.

"Shall we go get those boots cleaned off?" the quarter back-sized vampire laughed, extending a large hand to the crouching Bella, pulling her to her feet as she complied. He whisked her out of the large double doors before she could respond, splashing Jasper in the face with milk in the process.

As soon as they were out in the hall, Emmett's hand was at the small of her back, brushing up the bottom of her cotton top, stroking the skin that lay below. Her eyes flicked up in a flurry, cheeks tainted a deep scarlet as she flicked a clump of hair out of her face and pushed his hand off her.

"What?" Emmett muttered, looking startled.

Bella hadn't ever taken time to really look into his eyes before, similar to Edward's but different. His strong features were enough to make any high school cheerleader swoon and while Bella had never seen what lie beneath the muscle shirt, she could sure imagine. Still, his sudden gesture of flirtation was nothing like him and certainly not what she left the cafeteria for.

"Oh, I understand…" he muttered, dropping his arm to his side after brushing her butt, "Jasper has seemed a little suspicious lately. We should wait till we are out of sight," He added with a wink.

Bella went to croak out some pitiful response, but before she knew it she was being thrown into a janitorial closet, the light flickering on as her back hit the switch. Pushing the lock with his thumb, Emmett pressed his body into the contour of hers, the air in the tiny space barely enough for one human being.

"I know you prefer the car or the nurse's office but you looked so irresistibly tempting today when you spilled your lunch in front of everyone," he purred in her ear. "Your blush made my insides burn," he added huskily, shooting out his tongue under her ear lobe.

Suddenly, Bella began to feel extremely warm and was aware of the rest of her outfit for the first time. Apart from her favorite boots, she didn't recognize any of the rest of her clothes. Emmett was currently in the process of unbuttoning what could hardly be called a jean skirt, letting his hands linger over her warm stomach as he did so. It slid down her legs and she was shocked to find herself clad in a lacy red thong that she had never seen before.

"Ah, you wore my favorite," he moaned into her ear before licking his lips and trailing his fingers along the thin lace flowers lining the top of the garment.

Trying to think clearly while her head spun with pleasure, Bella shifted her eyes down to the thin, white eyelet tank she was wearing. The straps were thick, which gave her coverage over her shoulders but as her eyes traveled she become modestly aware that what little assets she had were practically hanging out of the top. A thin silver chain with a tiny lower case "E" hanging from it hung delicately around her neck and the charm dangled in her cleavage.

Emmett was now moving to the zipper at the side of her top and perhaps out of curiosity to what lie beneath or in a merely brainless moment, Bella complied and slid out of the shirt and let it fall onto a pile of rags in the closet.

"Must you torture me like this, Bella? You're too sexy for your own good sometimes, and your floral scent doesn't help to distract from it…" he trailed off as he dragged his teeth along her collar bone.

As he moved to remove his shirt, she looked down at her bra, not recognizing it either as a red lace push-up with leather accenting and straps. Looking down at her pale figure in the dim light she shivered, wondering what she could have been thinking when getting dressed this morning, not seeming to be able remember anything before lunch.

Looking up for a moment, she was confronted with the image of Emmett's muscular chest at eye-level. She blushed deeply for a moment before cautiously reaching out with her fingers to touch is bare chest.

At the touch of her hot skin to his, Emmett lifted her with swift ease and rested her backside on the lower metal shelf, knocking a few bottles of cleaning solution off in the process of leveling the playing field. Closing the gap between them, Bella wrapped her legs around the vampire's body and kissed his neck lightly at first but slowly applying more pressure.

Growling a low rumbling noise that she had never heard before, he ripped the bra from her chest, exposing her breasts to the warm air, crushing them with his chest. While shocked at the sound of ripping fabric, Bella welcomed the further skin-to-skin contact by moving her mouth to his lips, finally sucking a long kiss from them as their tongues entwined.

Sweat droplets began to form at her hairline and neck as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled her boyfriend's brother closer, kicking her boots off in the process and shooting them into a bucket of soapy mop water.

Emmett broke their kiss to mutter jokingly into her mouth, "Oh well, they were ruined anyway," and laughed as her hot breath quickened and her fingers tugged at his hair. She quickly moved her hands to his belt buckle in a sudden move that Bella hadn't even thought out. A new feeling was growing inside her, something that she had never felt with Edward, something more dangerous and perhaps more guilty.

Taking her time, moving at a snail's pace, Bella taunted her seemingly unreal counterpart by tugging at his earlobe with her teeth, huskily muttering in his ear,

"What? Did you want something, Emmett?"

All he could do was moan as she slowly pulled the belt from his jeans loop by loop and whipped it out at quickly at the end, flinging it behind her. She then unzipped his jeans slowly, each little notch one by one,

"What do you want, Mr. Cullen? You have to ask," she told him in a surprisingly sexy tone. Her face flickered confusion for a moment, not understanding what was making her act this way but she continued once she saw the pleasure in his eyes.

"Y-y-you…" he croaked out, his hands tightening around the lace ties, wanting to desperately pull the tiny strings.

"What's my name?" she asked, pausing at the top of the denim material, ready to release it as soon as he uttered the five letter word.

"Bella…BELLA!" he nearly shouted, biting hard at her neck, nearly breaking the skin before ravaging her lips with his.

Sucking in a gasp she let go of the pants, revealing skin tight, black briefs covering very little of him as she kissed him back with as much passion as he was offering her. She pulled her eyes open for a few seconds to gaze into his as he muttered her name again. In his eyes she saw something she didn't expect. Was it love, she wondered. It was apparent to her now that this wasn't their first meeting in the closet at lunch time. Pulling her eyes shut, her heart skipped a beat as he pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes in a moment of sincerity. Their lips never left each other as an uncontrollable force swept over them.

Suddenly, the tiny room went pitch black and all Bella could hear was the strong vampire's voice in her ear,

"Oh, I've got you now my little Swan," he grumbled before pulling her body impossibly more close to his.

"Don't…break…me…" was all she could muster as the wind was nearly knocked out of her by his immense, un-human strength and her head had begun to spin.

"Oh my Bella, my darling Bella…you will be broken but never hurt…" he trailed off, giving her a gentle kiss on the neck and muttering her name again and again, before baring his startling white teeth,

"Bella…Bella…"

* * *

"Bella…Bella? Bella…wake up!" sang Edward's voice, calm but tense in the morning light of her bedroom.

Sitting up quickly, Bella pulled open her eyes a split second later to find Edward at the edge of her bed, lightly shaking her. Flicking her eyes to the clock on her nightstand, she realized it was 7:30AM. Pulling down her covers she was shocked to find herself in her normal pajamas of her raggedy old t-shirt and gray sweatpants. However, her hair was matted and beads of sweat were pooling at her chest and neck.

"You were tossing and turning and mumbling in your sleep. Something about being broken? I was worried you were in pain…" he trailed off, noticing her flustered appearance. "Do you have a fever?" he asked, his voice laced with worry.

Edward was suddenly an inch away from her, ice cold hand on her forehead, her eyes shutting under the intense shift in temperature.

"N-no…I'm fine. Just a weird dream, that's all," she assured him before flitting about her room, pulling an outfit together in her head.

She was late which didn't leave time for a shower, which she had done last night, but felt dirty after such a dream. She quickly found a pair of slim jeans and a white v-neck while Edward offered his help by pulling open her closet and handing her the brown boots.

"It's cool outside, you should probably wear these," he offered to her startled expression as she went to the bathroom to compose herself. Scrubbing at her face with a washcloth, she looked up into her own eyes, cloudy with mixed feelings and pained by the twist in her stomach. She hacked at her teeth with the toothbrush until her gums were bleeding, spitting a mouthful of bloody mint into the porcelain. Brushing her hair back into a low pony, Bella patted her face dry with a towel before pulling open the door.

When she returned to her room, Edward was gone, no doubt outside waiting for her in the car. She slid her socked feet into the warmth of the boots and grabbed her light jacket and backpack, hoping her books were all in their present and accounted for.

Immediately after yanking open the silver Volvo door, Bella noticed a silver, square box on the dashboard of the passenger seat. Looking at her boyfriend with a puzzled glare, she pulled it into her lap and gave him a glare while she buckled her seatbelt and the numbers on the speedometer slowly crept towards 75, way above the small neighborhood's speed limit.

"Edward…" she warned in an Esme-esque tone, as she untied the deep green satin bow on top, pulling off the top. After pulling back a layer of soft fabric, a glint of silver caught her eye and she immediately recognized the necklace.

"Just a little something Esme's had for many years and passed it along for you to have. So I'll always be close to your heart, no matter what happens," he melodically spoke, a stark comparison to the reckless speed he was driving at.

She couldn't think of words to say to his profound statement and merely clasped the chain around her thin neck, pressing the charm close to her chest, trying desperately to get the images of Emmett's muscular chest out of her mind.

Even sooner than she had replayed the dream sequence in her head they were parked in the school lot. As she pulled her eyes open, she realized Edward was waiting to open her door for her and she recognized Rosalie's car next to them. Bella took Edward's offered hand and stepped out onto the cool pavement gingerly, her eyes first falling upon the vampire of her dreams…literally.

Edward crossed to the other side of the car to get his books from the backseat and Emmett closed the gap between himself and the milky white human as her heart beat a million times a second, face flushing. Noticing the necklace he traced the letter with his forefinger,

"Hmm…an "e" for Edward or perhaps…Emmett?" he asked with an unfamiliar glimmer in his eye.

Bella drew in a ragged breath, hoping his hand on her neck couldn't feel her heart jumping in its cavity, shaking her head, beads of sweat forming at her hairline.

"No need to get flustered, my dear," he re-assured her, lowering his lips to her small ear, and growling, "I don't bite."

"You wish," called the shrewd but perfectly tuned voice of Rosalie as she pulled her mate's ear and dragged him away from Bella. It appeared she had only heard his first comment, and thankfully, not the second.

"What was that all about?" Edward asked as he appeared with Bella's backpack, sliding it on her shoulders for her, pulling her close to him.

Bella merely shook her head as she melted into his cold, hard chest, not too unlike that of Emmett's but more familiar and safer. She could hear a heated argument forming between the two other vampires, as Alice hissed at her boyfriend,

"Your paths may change, but I'm just telling you what I saw. It's not the first time either…" she trailed off as she saw Edward and Bella looking in their direction.

Jasper loosened his grip on Alice's forearm as she stormed towards the main building, her low heels clicking furiously. Rosalie and Emmett, arms wrapped around each others' waists followed after their sister in confusion, too wrapped up in their own quarrel to have heard that of the other couple's.

Jasper stood looking defeated yet wild, arms gripping tightly around his Math book, veins pushing against his translucent skin beneath the whites of his knuckles. His eyes bore not into both of them, but only those of his brother, a tense atmosphere rising in the parking lot that Bella could feel coursing through her veins, knowing Jasper's gift was being put to use. His eyes turned dark and he pursed his lips as the book slipped through his fingers, crashing to the ground. Bella watched as Edward's head tilted to the side, before anger swept over him and he was consumed with a look that Bella recognized from somewhere distant.

Edward wrapped his own arms around Bella silently, pulling her to face him and kissing that same bizarre spot at the crease of her neck and jaw bone. Right before she heard the school bell scream, in the silent and still eye before the storm, Bella could have sworn she saw an odd look in Edward's eye that she had never seen before. A look of remorse and guilt, secrecy and shame. One that forced him to use that same empty gesture of love that Bella had seen Emmett direct at Alice in her dream.


	2. La Realidad

Disclaimer: I don't own the concept of Twilight, nor do I profit in writing this story.

Note: So, I said I wasn't going to make a second chapter but after much thought and consideration of the interest shown by many, I decided to continue onward with the story. So here we go, same setting as the previous chapter and we'll just have to see what happens next.

**Chapter Two: La Realidad**

Bella took her time packing up her belongings in Spanish as her teacher handed back a not so pleasing test grade from the week before. Señora Goff was not too encouraging with her rapid-fire commentary on the paper she placed on top of Bella's open notes. The fact that her lecture was all in Spanish didn't help either.

"Perhaps," she switched to English, which slowed the rate of her voice considerably, "You should consider asking your _novio_ for help. Edward is my best student by far…" she trailed off after noticing the shocked look on Bella's face.

"Don't look so surprised, Señorita Swan," she continued after a weak chuckle, "I may be old but it does not take much to notice when young love is in the air. Not many are as protective as Edward is of you. You two are, as you say, the talk of the town."

Bella pulled her mouth shut, as it had slowly fallen open during her teacher's small speech. Snapping her notebook closed, she trapped the test inside and slid it into her backpack. Nodding quickly she bolted to the door in the back of the classroom and had her hand on the doorknob when the sound of her heart in her ears was interrupted by Señora's voice once more,

"Oh, and Isabella?" she called to her student before she could escape, "If I were your age with your looks, I wouldn't be so quick to let him slip through your fingers," she finished with a raise of her thin eyebrows. The slender woman turned away from the door and began erasing the verb conjugations on the blackboard.

"I'm afraid I already have…" Bella muttered under her breath, causing the teacher to look up again with a puzzled look on her face. "I mean…Gracias, Señora. Hasta mañana," she finished, closing the door quickly behind her and rushing to the nearest bathroom.

Suddenly the knot in her stomach quickly transitioned into nausea as she dropped her backpack on the floor and immediately turned on the cold water faucet, splashing her face twice before looking up into the mirror, face dripping and pale. A strange noise blared in her ear, causing her stomach to lurch and Bella to yank her eyes shut to regain control. Just as she moved to wipe her face clean, one of the yellowing stalls swung open and Jessica emerged, her face souring as she caught Bella's eyes in the mirror. Silently she hoisted her purse higher on her shoulder and began scrubbing her hands under the hot water two sinks away from Bella.

"Killer Spanish test, huh?" Bella tried, scooting just past Jessica to pull two paper towels from the dispenser, making a loud noise.

"I got a 95," responded her former friend, her voice seeping with acid while she yanked a sheet from the box on the wall and wadded it up loudly.

"Oh…well I guess it's just me then…" Bella mumbled, pretending to dig for something in her backpack and ignoring Jess's tone.

"Yea, whatever, Bella," she replied before storming out of the bathroom, the door slamming behind her.

Sighing, Bella dried off her face and hands, before pitching the wadded up ball into the trash bin. She couldn't blame her old circle of friends for treating her the way Jessica did. After all, not only did she disappear from the face of the Earth during the whole James incident but proceeded to spend 99.9% of her time with the Cullens since then. However, spiteful behavior in the bathroom when she wasn't having the best of days was not, in Bella's opinion, particularly called for.

Staring into her slim face, Bella gripped the porcelain tightly for only a matter of minutes before she realized the shrill sound bothering her ears had been the bell signaling the start of lunch. Grabbing her backpack she yanked on the slender handle of the wooden door and headed down the hall to the cafeteria.

As she stood outside the cafeteria door she breathed in a deep breath before even touching the handle.

"It was only a dream. Don't be stupid, Bella," she told herself, out loud, in a voice that was trying way too hard to be confident.

She pulled open the door and found everything in the cafeteria to be normal. The Cullen family was sitting in their usual seats and the dull roar of the cafeteria was as ordinary as always. Sighing, she laughed a little at her panic and quickly headed over to the short line.

Halfway to the table, tray in hand, Bella noticed Rosalie lean over to Edward, place a beautiful hand on his muscular back and whisper something in his ear. Edward threw his head back in laughter, as if it were the funniest joke he had ever heard.

If it had been any other day, followed by any other night, Bella would have calmly proceeded to the table, placed her tray down and place a warm hand on Edward's shoulder. He would have looked up, lovingly, into her eyes and completely forgotten everything his adopted sister had said previously.

However, Bella felt her lower lip tremble just as the tray slipped between her fingers. All she could hear were the warning words of Señora Goff, "Eezabelllllla…" echoing in her ears, on repeat to the soundtrack of blood pounding and the clatter of her lunch on the cold, hard floor.

Jasper, as well as the rest of Forks High, looked up from their tables and innocent chatter to see what had happened. However, Rosalie and Edward were too wrapped up in their laughter to notice the change in emotion that hung in the air and the momentary hush that had fallen over the feasting humans. Alice, however, broke from that conversation to follow Jasper's gaze and nudged him as he rose from his seat to aid Bella in her embarrassing moment.

"Total shambles, as per usual," a boy from her biology class sneered in a mock-British tone from a nearby table.

Bella attempted to gather herself and mop what little of the mess she could with the small stack of napkins she had remembered to grab in the lunch line. In a little less than a second, Jasper was at her side, picking up the sopping wet veggie burger from the puddle of milk and disgustedly tossing it into the bin.

"You don't have to…Don't mess your shoes up," she nodded at his expensive looking leather boots, the soles now tipped in white. Her cheeks were bright red as she relived her dream, now sure she was fully awake.

"Don't be silly, Bella," he responded, his eyes warm and calm. She knew he was using his gift to help her but couldn't help but feel more tranquil in a matter of moments.

"I don't know what's wrong with me…I swear, I can't take two steps without tripping over myself. And I don't even have a cast as an excuse…" she continued, trying to mop up the milky mess before noticing the milk on her own boots.

"Jasper can handle that, let's get you cleaned off," came a cool, familiar voice from above.

Bella hesitantly raised her head to see Emmett, hand outstretched, just as in her dream and her stomach lurched, heart stopping momentarily as images of the janitorial closet flooded her brain.

"I…Um…I'm okay, Em…but um…" she tried and failed, the communication thing not really working at the current moment.

"Bells, everything's taken care of. I wouldn't want to see one of your few fashionable items get ruined by a stupid accident," came Alice's sweet voice. She was suddenly beside Bella, dripping tray in hand and a janitor was approaching with a mop.

Emmett grabbed her hand before she could say another word and led her out of the cafeteria. He had a smile on his face as if he took joy in being Bella's knight in shining armor for once, instead of Edward. He glanced over to look down and noticed her face, paler than usual, fixed in a horrid expression.

"Aw, come on, Bells, no need to cry over spilled milk!" he joked, slinging an arm over her shoulder, brushing his thumb back and forth against the bare skin of her forearm.

At the cool touch of his skin to hers, Bella became rigid and blushed a deep scarlet, looking down at her stained boots.

"It's not the milk," she started quietly, gaining more confidence with a quick swallow, "I had a strange dream last night and I'm failing Spanish…" she trailed off, noticing Emmett had his hand on the door of the janitorial closet.

"Why are we going in there?" she asked in a panic, eyes widening as she took a step back.

"What? Is the little human afraid of the scary, dark closet?" Emmett joked, his eyes lighting up as he continued, "I spilled the cup of water for cleaning the paint brushes all over Rose's favorite suede purse once in art. They have this stuff that will get anything out…the janitors have saved my ass on many occasions," he finished, pulling open the door and flicking on the light.

The room was just as small as in her dream and with no door stop, Emmett closed the door quietly behind them before beginning to search the shelves.

"Aha!" he called, plucking a small yellow bottle from the top shelf and grabbing a rag from the pile on the floor. "I believe this will do the trick," he assured Bella, bending down on one knee.

Bella gaped at his position on the floor before he patted his knee, intending her to place her foot there. She sighed once more and complied as Emmett got to work on her left foot. A small smile spread across her face as she realized she had nothing to worry about. There was a perfectly good reason for them to be in the closet together and so far, everything Emmett had done was completely platonic.

"So, tell me about this dream you had…" he muttered lowly over the noise of paper towel against suede.

Embarrassed and not particularly interested in sharing the graphic details she had concocted in her dream, Bella started with the obvious and vague, hoping to move quickly from the subject.

"Well…it actually went a lot like today. I walked in the cafeteria and was startled by…something…and dropped my food in front of the whole cafeteria. Even Jasper came to my aid getting his clothes all milky," she finished, feeling as if her explanation was adequate enough.

Chuckling, Emmett responded, signaling for her to switch shoes in the meantime, "Really? Maybe you're turning into Alice…with visions and all that. _Et voilà_!"

Bella looked down to see Emmett beaming proudly and pointing to her spotless shoes. Smiling, she nodded in approval as he rose from the floor, now towering over her. Holding out the bottle to her, their hands connected, holding their position momentarily as Bella became lost in his sparkling eyes.

"For future accidents," he told her with a wink, before sliding it into her pocket for her.

"Thanks…" Bella muttered, face flushing at the close contact.

"Now…in your dream, did I come to your rescue and whisk you away to this magical closet?" he asked in a light tone, placing a palm behind Bella's shoulder, trapping her in the small space.

"Um…yes…actually…but you didn't clean my boots," she squeaked out quickly, looking away and staring intently at the Spanish instructions on the nearest Windex bottle.

"Oh?" he asked, raising his eyebrows slightly. Lowering his voice he leaned in, continuing, "Did we have a mad, passionate love affair and then return to eating our lunches with the rest of the undead crew?"

Bella's eyes widened and her heart began to pound, fear coursing through her veins. _Shit. Shit. Shit, _she thought, _How did he know that?_

Emmett's features scrunched as he pulled his face back, opening the space for more air between them. "Whoa…Bells, I was just kidding…" he told her, "Don't freak…or faint?" noticing her pale complexion becoming even paler.

She gulped and tried to wipe her face of emotion, hoping he would just think she was shocked by his suggestion. But unfortunately, Bella was never good at playing it cool.

"Oh shit…seriously? Us?" he asked, letting a small laugh escape his lips. Pulling his arm away from the shelf, Bella thought they were leaving until he picked her up and placed her on the shelf, just like he had in her strange vision.

"Well…" he growled, leaving his hands dangerously on the sides of her torso, tee hiked up past her mid-drift, "Who would have ever guessed Bella Swann was the little minx?" he finished, his hot breath on her lips.

In a sudden surge of stupidity that she would likely regret later, Bella leaned in and after running her tongue across her lower lip, pressed hers against his. Cautious at first, when she felt his tongue pressing against her lips, she welcomed it, pulling weakly at the bottom of his shirt.

Breaking the moment as she tugged at his shirt, Emmett spoke, "Wait…are you sure about this? I don't even know why…" he told her, eyes uncertain and worried.

Bella felt the tears coming to her eyes, remembering who she was and who she loved in that moment. Jumping down from the shelf she adjusted her shirt and pulled her hair back.

"I…Oh God…I…just…" she tried, tears streaming down her face, feeling ashamed and horrified at herself. Emmett, as much as he wasn't a normal human, still had the mind of a teenage boy. Plus, the thirst for her blood was always there as well. Shamefully, she rushed to the door, back to Emmett and both hands on the handle.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me! Come on, Bells!" Emmett interrupted suddenly, harshly and rather loudly. Seeing her shudder and feeling a wave of regret sweep from top to bottom, Emmett moved forward, drawn by the heart-wrenching sobs.

Bella tried to compose herself, but her brain wasn't getting the message. Her heart was flying around in its cavity and each sob was painful and broken. In the bleak face of reality, her life was no longer a fantastical story with magical creatures and trysts in the janitorial closet. Yanking the small chain from her neck, she threw it on the ground behind her, hoping to bury all the feelings that were bubbling up inside her. This was the reality of her life now. Everything and everyone around her was dangerous. And every inch she took closer to them, a risk.

"Isabella," Emmett murmured, suddenly behind her. Placing a strong hand tenderly on her shoulder he turned her around to face him. He opened his other hand slowly to reveal the tiny piece of jewelry and in one swift motion it was once more around her neck. Leaning toward her, he kissed the small letter, his lips sweeping across her collar bone.

Painfully, he attempted a smile and wiped the last of her tears from the pale face with his thumb. "Isabella," he spoke again, surprised that her head was now resting on his chest. Wrapping his arms around her he drew her closer, the warmth of her body almost painful.

"Sometimes the heart wants more than it can have," Emmett whispered to her. "If I could make this right I would…" he broke as his own voice was choked by sorrow.

"If only…" he heard as a muffled voice shattered the emotional tension filling the small room.

They remained this way for countless minutes, a silent clock keeping track of the time that elapsed and how long it would be till their presence was noted missing.

Pulling away, Bella wiped the last tears from her eyes and smoothed her hair back into a pony tail. In an attempt to smooth the goose-bumps from her shivering arms, she rubbed her palms rapidly against the pale skin, to no avail. Looking up into his eyes, she reached up and touched his cheek, parting her lips but not able to muster a sentence.

Emmett kissed her lips gently, then her forehead and spoke into her hair, "I'm not going anywhere. I'll always be here…" before pushing open the door, letting the fluorescent light blind them.

Bella let him lead her out by the hand and their contact only broke as they turned to corner and heard the muffled cafeteria noises only feet away. Without a word, Emmett shoved open the huge door with ease, ignoring the countless stares from table after table that he passed. A couple of the cheerleaders puffed out their chests as he passed, one bravely uttering, "Hey, Emmett," in a seductive tone.

As the other Cullen men routinely did, he merely ignored the glamorized stares of the countless deer stuck in the headlights of his beautiful eyes. Sliding back into his seat, he smiled a warm grin, stating firmly, "All taken care of, Bella has managed to escape this incident unscathed."

Rosalie seemed content with the explanation and went back to reading an original, signed copy of _Anna Karenina_, leaning over to ask Edward about one of the more complex, Russian tenses.

Bella merely slid into her regular seat, noticing a new, but identical, lunch sitting on the table for her. Jasper smiled a weak smile at her and Edward absently placed a strong hand on her back, rubbing it softly as he spoke in a low voice to Rose. The gesture that she was sure was meant to comfort her, only seemed empty as she felt her eyes being pulled up to meet Emmett's. Their eyes were locked until Alice's voice broke the quiet,

"That is what you had before, right, Bella? We had to guess…" her voice uneasy and trailing as her eyes glazed over.

Bella dropped her fork loudly as Emmett felt the French fry slip through his fingers. That look only meant one thing; vision. Their eyes flew to each other again, at the exact moment that Jasper pulled his up to meet Edward's. Visions were clearly not the thing that this group wanted to be happening at the moment.

Oblivious to the growing tension, Rosalie tossed Alice a piece of paper and slid a pen to the other side of the table while muttering a sentence of the Russian text under her breath.

Alice began to scribble franticly, the billowing sleeves of her deep green top covering the drawing as her hand moved. Shaking her head, the pen stopped and Alice looked down to see what she had seen. As quickly as she had drawn it, she had crumpled it up and shoved the small wad into her purse and looking up calmly into the waiting eyes surrounding her.

"Oh it's nothing…everything's subjective, remember?" she spoke nervously. Picking up her tray, she danced off to the trash bin.

Yes, visions were really not a good thing right now.


	3. El Futuro

Disclaimer: I don't own the concept of Twilight, nor do I profit in writing this story.

Note: The final installment of this story is finally ready for all of you who have been following it. I never wanted to deviate from the real plot too much, only expand on the possibility of certain relationships. I hope I managed to stay true to Stephanie Meyer's vision while indulging in a tad bit of fantasy when it comes to the Cullen family and Bella Swann. Thank you for reading and please enjoy.

**Chapter Three: El Futuro**

"Class, please take care when handling those tadpoles; they are in a very fragile state. Mr. Murphy, please do not spill your petri dish on your lab manual…"

The monotonous sound of their Biology teacher seemed rather unimportant to Bella as she stared out the window, tapping her pen repeatedly on the desk. Suddenly, the pen was gone and all that remained was a cool sensation on the back of her hand. Looking up, she noticed an annoyed expression on Edward's face, her favorite pen in his hand.

"Bella, please. You know I don't mind doing all the work here but could you please refrain from being so distracting?" he told her coldly, before pressing a hazel eye to the microscope, his hand sketching the development of their specimen in long, swift strokes.

Clenching her jaw tightly, Bella sat still, hands gripping the underside of her stool, letting the buzzing sounds of her classmates and the light clinking of glass lab materials envelope her. Everything in front of her blurred and the chalk board was suddenly a milky green swamp, tadpoles squirming in the sunlight, their skin shimmering, eyes suddenly a deep crimson…

Bella jumped as the shrill sound of the school bell startled her from the strange day dream. Looking towards Edward, everything was cleaned up, microscope and petri dishes gone, even her own books in her backpack. Edward was past her, almost at the door when she finally caught up with him.

"Can we go home now? You know how I hate gym…" she pleaded, too tired and drained to stay any longer in the halls of Forks High.

"I can't miss Spanish, Bella. We have a quiz," he replied curtly before placing an empty kiss on her forehead. Pulling away from her, Edward adjusted his lapels before taking a couple steps away.

"Edward, wait!" she managed, grasping onto the zipper of his backpack in her weak grip.

With a confused look in his eye, Edward whipped around, suddenly at her side again.

"I love you," Bella whispered, placing a tender kiss on his cold, hard lips before tucking a piece of hair behind her left ear. _Pay attention to me, _she begged, knowing he couldn't hear her thoughts. _Please._

"Bella, I'm late. I'll see in you in less than an hour. Meet me by the car after the bell," he responded, now visibly annoyed with her.

Tears welling up in her eyes, Bella noticed she was alone in the hallway before ducking into the girl's locker room. Sitting on one of the skinny benches, Bella opened her locker, staring at her sneakers and gym shorts. While all the other girls around her giggled and gossiped, she sat there motionless even as the piercing sound of the coach's whistle signaled the commencement of the grueling period of perspiration and humiliation. Today, she didn't have time to deal with running and things that involved her making a fool of herself.

Grabbing her bag, Bella slammed her locker shut and marched out of the locker room. Convinced that Edward was hiding something from her and unable to silence the nauseous rumblings of her stomach she leaned against one of the lockers for support. Suddenly, she could hear the whisperings of two male voices, both extremely recognizable. Quietly, she started down the hall towards the intersecting corridor, the voices growing louder and more angered. Out of sight, Bella crouched behind a large display of pamphlets outside the nurse's office to overhear a conversation that she would later regret ever having investigated.

"Jasper, this is crazy. You know half the time Alice sees things that never actually happen. She can only see the big picture," Edward whispered, his voice strained with annoyance.

"She's had dreams too, for a month! We can't deny this any longer. It is out of our hands, Edward," came the reply of his brother.

Bella's breath caught in her chest as she peaked through two of the rows of papers about teen pregnancy. Jasper was leaning against the lockers with Edward taking an unusually close stance, facing him head on. _How could they possibly know about Emmett and me? Did Alice see a future for us? Has Alice been seeing my dreams?_ she wondered, cheeks burning at the possibility of Edward hearing about her sexual fantasies.

Just as her mind began to relive some of her actions in the janitorial closet, a sort of emergency alarm went off in her brain as the emotions in the hallway changed.

"Jasper, we can't, not here…" Edward whispered nervously, the two vampires' faces suddenly centimeters from each other. Their fingers were intertwined and suddenly their bodies were pressed up against each other; lips upon lips, one muscular chest crushing another.

Bella sucked in a breath audibly just as Edward moved to Jasper's neck, nibbling lightly at the stone cold skin. Their skin glimmered for a split second as the sun emerged from the clouds and shined directly through the skylight above them. They were beautiful, wrapped in each others' arms, scared and brave all at once. In an attempt to move her foot that was uncomfortable in her crouched position, Bella's shoe squeaked against the shiny linoleum floor.

Edward shot away from Jasper, practically at the other set of lockers, trying to look completely normal. The two boys looked at each other, knowing it wasn't even safe for them to be seen talking alone during class time. With fear in their eyes, they went their separate ways down the hall.

"Hiding from the coach again?" came a loud voice behind her that caused Bella to collide with the pamphlets, sending hundreds of them flying.

Emmett's boisterous laugh shook within her as he immediately started picking up bright blue fliers warning against the harms of crystal meth. Bella grabbed a stack of pamphlets about STDs and shoved them in the stand, too embarrassed to speak.

"I was bored in English and was about to come fake sick in the nurse's office. Seeing as we're both skipping anyways, care to go for a little joy ride?" he asked, suddenly standing extremely close.

Bella nodded and gulped loudly, hoisting her backpack onto her shoulder and following Emmett out to the parking lot. Fixing her hair in the reflection of a car window, Bella breathed a deep breath, trying to justify this as purely platonic. _Nothing is going to happen. Neither of us felt like going to class or waiting for everyone else so we went to go get gas. Or milk from the store. Or have a hot affair in the back of Emmett's jeep? No…Bella. Stop. _

Jumping up into his car, Bella buckled her seatbelt quickly, pulling tightly as she sucked in another nervous breath. Emmett smiled at her discomfort and quickly sped out of the parking lot and away from the school. Leaning her head back, Bella closed her eyes and before she knew it, the engine was quiet again. Pulling back her lids, she noticed they were at the beach, dark clouds looming above them as Emmett slid out of his seat and opened her door for her.

"What are we doing here? I thought we were just going for a drive…" Bella warned the large boy now taking her hand, her voice uneasy. She wasn't completely comfortable with this. It wasn't Edward she was worried about; she didn't even want to know if all she saw in the hallway was all there was to see. What if someone else saw the two of them walking hand in hand along the beach? How would this be explained?

"Well it's such a beautiful day, how could I resist?" Emmett responded with an eye roll. Pulling her down the sandy path, they strolled just at the shore line, the tide rolling lightly at their feet. They walked in silence for what seemed like years to Bella before his voice broke the silence.

"Do you believe it's possible to love more than one person? Truly love them both?" he asked somberly. His eyes were dark and serious, his face fixed in an expression that was impossible to read.

Suddenly, as if on cue, the sky ripped open and rain fell in violent sheets, drenching the couple instantly. Emmett quickly pulled her up into his muscular arms and sprinted to a small cove in a formation of rocks miles away. In the dry little space, he pulled Bella close to him, as the rain pounded around them.

Looking at each other in utter shock, they both burst out laughing simultaneously. Bella gripped her side, finding it hard to breath in the small space with the hilarity of the situation consuming her. She dug her head into his hard chest, and smiled as she watched a flock of birds fly away from the storm in fear.

"Yes," she responded, after their laughter subsided and the rain did not, looking up into his eyes, fingering the "e" at her neck as she spoke. "I think love is a very powerful thing. There are so many aspects to it that are so unexplainable, so mysterious."

Smiling, Emmett kissed her forehead, then her lips lightly. As he began to pull away, Bella caught his lips with hers, pushing harder against him, hand gripping his chest. Tears began to flow from her eyes as she wrapped her legs around his waist, pushing her chest into his. Taking his face in her small hands, Bella pulled away and locked her brown eyes with his.

"I do love you, but I love Edward. And he loves me. And that love has nearly torn your family apart and probably will continue to do so," she told him, trying to choke back her tears and keep the sadness at bay.

"I know, Isabella, and there's nothing we can do to go back and change that. We've all invested so much to try and keep the two of you together," he whispered, pain filling his normally jovial voice.

"If only…" Bella interrupted quietly, kissing away the single tear resting on his pale cheek.

"It would be unfair to Edward and to Rosalie…and everyone else for that matter. I would never want to hurt my family. Carlisle has done so much for all of us that this would seem like a slap in the face to him," Emmett finished, eyes darting away from Bella as he heard the rain reduce to a sprinkle.

"He has done far too much for me than I would have ever asked of him. All of you have; and I'm forever grateful. It's just too hard not to get attached to each of you in a different way…" she trailed off, digging her face into his neck.

"The storm's passed; I should probably get you home," Emmett whispered in her ear as he lifted her gently off his lap.

Bella crawled out of the small space and brushed the sand off her jeans and hair before Emmett's arm was suddenly around her shoulders. They walked in silence back to the jeep where Bella re-adjusted her pony tail to make her hair look less soaked than it actually was.

Charlie's cruiser was outside when they finally pulled up to the house and Emmett killed the engine. Fiddling around for her key in her backpack, Bella gasped when she looked up and Emmett's face was close to hers.

"I'm sorry, Bells, I didn't want this to hurt you," he told her quietly, just above a whisper. "I know you've gone through so much this year already."

Kissing him lightly, she murmured into his mouth, "You couldn't hurt a fly, Em, nevertheless a girl like me," pulling back with a smirk.

Emmett flashed a big grin and started the car again as Bella got out and headed towards the house. Rolling down his window, he called after her once more, and she was back at the car in an instant, a confused look on her face.

"You know, when Edward goes hunting with Jasper, sometimes I sneak into your room to watch you sleep. Just so you feel safe and that you know you're never really alone. Even when Edward leaves you, you're never alone," he told her softly, a mixed look in his dark eyes.

With a small smile, Bella managed to choke out a "Thank you" as his engine roared and Emmett sped off down the street.

Smiling, she greeted Charlie in the kitchen, grabbing an apple and a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Was that another one of those Cullen boys? How many times do I have to warn them about how fast they drive their cars?" Charlie warned from behind a newspaper.

Entering her room, she closed the door lightly behind her and turning on her desk lamp. Pulling back the curtains, Bella watched as a light drizzle began to fall in the dusk and a cluster of tears fell from her eyes. Wiping the salty water away, Bella reached up and unlocked her window, before settling down to do some homework.

Touching the "e" at her neck, she glanced back at the window with a grin. While the past year may have been filled with things she never could have dreamed of, she knew one thing certain about the future; that a Cullen boy would always be there for her to protect and love her.


End file.
